FLORIDA – Miami Heat survived a late surge from the Atlanta Hawks to escape with a 97-94 win in Game 5 of the NBA Eastern Conference first round series on Tuesday night (Wednesday in the Philippines) at the FTX Arena in Miami.
Ahead 90-80 following a free throw by Bam Adebayo, the Hawks unloaded six straight points from DeAndre Hunter to cut the deficit to 86-92 but Miami answered with a triple from Max Strus to increase the lead to 95-86.
Atlanta made its last push at 93-95 on conversions from Hunter and Trae Young. However, a dunk by Adebayo with under a minute left did just enough for Miami to secure the win.
Victor Olapido spearheaded the offense with 23 points, while Adebayo chipped in double-double 20 points and 15 rebounds as the Heat wrapped up the series at 4-1 to move on to the Eastern Conference semis.
Tyler Herro, Max Strus and Caleb Martin also hit double-digits in offense with 16, 15 and 10 markers for the Heat, which closed out the series despite the absence of Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry.
Hunter finished the game with double-double 36 points and 11 rebounds, while Kevin Huerter and Danilo Gallinari added 12 markers apiece for the Hawks.
Memphis Grizzlies and the Phoenix Suns, meanwhile, moved closer to the next round of their NBA Western Conference first round series with separate Game 5 wins.
Ja Morant scored on a layup with a second remaining as the Grizzlies took a 3-2 lead over Minnesota Timberwolves with a come-from-behind 111-109 victory.
Morant finished the game with a near triple-double 30 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, while Desmond Bane and Brandon Clarke added 25 and 21 markers, respectively.
The Suns, on the other hand, also surged to a 3-2 series lead with a 112-97 beating of New Orleans Pelicans. Mikal Bridges had 31 points on a perfect 4-of-4 three-point shooting./PN
